


You're Our Hero

by Candid_Reverie



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also i bullshitted throw the galaxy garrison's building layout, Also keith is mentioned, Angst, Bisexual Crisis, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Male Character, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Dont be scared of the tags, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Is Gay, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Male Character, Gay Shiro (Voltron), I made up a lot of adam's personality because they diDN'T FUCKING ELABORATE BEFORE KILLING HIM OFF, I'm Bad At Tagging, Just fucking take me, Lance (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mentions of PTSD, Pining Lance (Voltron), Post-Canon, Proud space dad, Shiro (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Shiro (Voltron) is a Good Sibling, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), We deserve this don't @ me, Wingman Shiro, and i'm livid, enjoy, fucking fuck, i love tagging shit, i poured all of my anger, it's what happened a week later, post season seven, shiro is a disaster gay, the ending we all deserved, this is kind of shitty, yall are welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 03:06:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15654477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candid_Reverie/pseuds/Candid_Reverie
Summary: Shiro gets to mourn, Lance comforts him, and Shiro helps Lance through is sexuality crisis — ALTERNATIVELY: THE ENDING WE ALL DESERVED(Post-S7, a week later)





	You're Our Hero

**Author's Note:**

> sksksksksks e n j o y

Lance's soft footsteps echoed around the dark room in search for the former black paladin, quickly spotting him under the only source of light. Shiro had his back turned to him. In front of him where countless rows of names of the many soldiers that died protecting Earth.  
  
It wasn't uncommon for people to walk in and pay their respect to the fallen. However, it was uncommon for Shiro to be in that room, especially standing alone. But Lance supposed that this would happen eventually, he was actually surprised it hadn't happened early. It's been a week since they've killed Sendak; a week since the rest of the paladins, him included, had finally been let out from the hospital.  
  
They'd been running tests nonstop since they came back, trying to gather all the data they could. It was a little annoying; how they wanted to know everything about their stay in space, their strength, immune system, and general health, but Lance couldn't really blame them. They were considerate enough to give them space to avoid anxiety attacks whenever it was necessary.  
  
They probably think that any one of them could have a major attack from PTSD which, again, Lance couldn't actually blame them for thinking either. He kept having nightmares about still being in space, either stranded and floated to nowhere, or waking up in the castle. The only constant in the dream was that he was completely alone. He wouldn't be able to say that he was ever relaxed if anyone asked. They all came out just a tad more hyperaware of everything than when they first left.  
  
Sure, he might have felt a little bad for lying about being close to a panic attack, but that was at the back of his mind when he was worried for his teammates. Especially if that teammate was Shiro. Earlier, when they all settled down for lunch, everyone was quick to notice the absence of the black paladin. It wasn't unusual for some of them to skip meals sometimes, but what bothered Lance was that Shiro had been uncharacteristically silent when they all hung out together. Lance hadn't said anything about it, but he did go just a little out of his way to annoy the group, if only it meant Shiro could tell him to knock it off. He hadn't reacted at all; it was like he hadn't even noticed. He stared vacantly at the book he was reading. No one noticed that his eyes weren't moving from word to word, or that he hadn't flipped the page in ten minutes.  
  
That bizarre behavior carried itself out until they were called for testing. Then Shiro wasn't there for lunch, and to be completely honest, Lance was especially careful when he monitored where Shiro went. He, of course, knew that the man was in no more trouble of randomly disappearing, but it never hurt to be careful.  
  
He had begun to panic when he roamed around the building after coming up empty handed when he peaked into his dorm room. It was only when he noticed that the door to this room was ajar that it clicked to him.  
  
And so here he was. If Shiro heard him, he didn't bother to acknowledge him. Lance didn't mind. If anything, he was glad that Shiro finally had the chance to mourn, especially when it was someone as important as Adam. Lance didn't know Adam personally, he was a teacher after all, but one of the many reasons that he looked up to Shiro is because he was dating Adam. He admired how close and open he was about their relationship. He dreamed of it too, something so special with a person. They didn't have to lie or keep things a secret from anyone. Lance wanted something that pure.  
  
His hands found the end of his shirt to play with, in attempt to calm down the small wave of nervousness washing upon him. He should leave, this is a private moment. But as much as he wanted to, his feet didn't budge. What if Shiro didn't notice him before and sees him now? He's definitely going to close off again. Shit, legs, _move_.  
  
Lance's thoughts where interrupted when the man turned around. He faced him, not really surprised, so the younger of the two guessed that he'd known. His expression was grim and the brunet could see the start of tears in his eyes.  
  
"Lance," Shiro started, walking towards him. The way he said his name sounded like a greeting and Lance scrambled to find the words, or the voice to speak those words with. Shiro kept walking, soon past him, and that's when, finally, his feet began to move. He turned as the man was stepping out through the door, the lump in his throat suddenly gone.  
  
"Sh—Shiro, wait. . .," he called softly, stepping forward. Thankfully, he stopped, but he didn't turn. "Yes, Lance?"  
  
"I–I, uh," Lance paused, unsure of what to say. Shiro turned to face him, gaze expectant. "Are. . .," he swallowed. "Are you okay?" He finally managed to stutter out, inwardly cringing at how shaky is voice came out to be.  
  
An expression flickered across Shiro's face, and Lance didn't have the time to figure out what it was before it was gone. "I'm fine," he replied blankly before turning back around and walking just outside the room. One word came to mind.  
  
_Lair_.  
  
Lance couldn't help the frown that tugged at the corners of his lips. Bravely, he stepped in front of his hero, which halted his track once again. "Do you want to talk about it?" He was proud of himself for keeping his voice from cracking embarrassingly.  
  
Shiro's gaze softened at Lance's expression. "Lance, I'm alright, it's fine."  
  
Anger bit at Lance. How could Shiro be so stubborn? Even now, when he was clearly hurting, he wanted to act like a superhero. He was like a leader in charge of leading nothing. Not even now, when he was safe, when he needed to mourn, would he let himself be seen as weak. Lance could understand that if he was in his place, but _Jesus Christ_ , he was nowhere near weak!  
  
Shiro must have noticed the way Lance's expression changed because he raised his hand in surrender. "Lance," he started with a small smile— and Goddammit, that was the last straw for Lance, "I'm—"  
  
_"No, you're not!"_ Lance shouted, earning the attention of a few people walking about, and leaving Shiro to stare wide-eyed. He quickly looked around when he realized his mistake, before grabbing Shiro's real arm, "Just—!" Lance lowered his voice, wincing at the volume caused by his frenzied nerves, " _Please_ talk to me."  
  
Shiro blinked once, then twice before he let his prosthetic arm drop to his side. He sighed, and Lance let go of him. "Alright, let's just. . . just follow me, alright?" Lance nodded and followed Shiro when the man began walking. He tried to ignore the stares as he walked next to him.  
  
They arrived outside, standing on the roof to the left of the building. A long ways in front of them was the entrance. Shiro sat under the shade as the sun began dipping into the horizon. Lance copied him, resting his back against the wall and putting just a bit of space betweem them. Why Shiro brought them there was a mystery until he spoke.  
  
"This was our favorite spot," he stated, softly, before he turned to Lance. There was guilt written all over his face, brows furrowed in frustration.  
  
"If only I hadn't left."  
  
Lance clenched his fists before he spoke. "It was for the best, right?"  
  
Shiro looked off into the distance again, ignoring Lance's question. "I could have stayed, it was an option. I could have stayed with Adam and lived my last few years with him."  
  
Lance paused before asking, unsure if he had heard correctly, "last few years?"  
  
"Before being brought back, I was ill, and I only had two or three years tops to live," he explained. "I chose to do the mission anyway instead of staying with him. I could have married him. _God_ , I could have _married_ him." He said more to himself than to Lance, then without a warning, he threw his head back, hitting it against the wall. The brunet's heart ached. He frowned at the man.  
  
"What happened, exactly?"  
  
Shiro looked down. "I was asked to go to Kerberos for a mission. And I, having only a few years to live, accepted it. I. . ."  
  
"You?" Lance urged gently.  
  
"I wanted to make my last moments count. I wanted to help the Garrison's with their cause."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And so I told Adam. We. . . we had a fight and he made me choose between him and the mission." Lance could guess what happened next.  
  
"I could have stayed and lived with him, married him like we always planned out. Someone else could have taken my place, it would have been alright. Adam and I would have been happy together and I could have been a permanent teach—"  
  
_"Stop."_ Lance had about enough. Shiro looked at him, a little taken aback. He kept talking before he lost his nerve. "Thanks to you, Shiro, we saved Earth, we saved the _universe_. No one else could have been the leader of Voltron except for you. It was because of you that we came together and defeated Zarkon, Lotor, and Sendak. That's. . .that's amazing, Shiro," Lance spoke, surprising both Shiro and himself. The word's came so naturally to him. He kept speaking.  
  
"You and Adam. . . You two loved each other so much. I didn't know you guys like Keith knew you, but I could tell. You guys had the perfect dynamic and, even though I don't know Adam, I'm pretty sure that he would resent keeping you from going if he knew about the consequences.  
  
"And even if he didn't know, he would feel guilty about keeping you, the person he loved the most, from going on that mission." He breathed, noticing how Shiro's gaze never once left him. "I think, deep down, he knew that that mission was for the greater good. If someone I cared about were to go on a life-threatening mission, I would try to distance myself from them so it wouldn't hurt so much if I never saw them again. I would regret it, though, and I'm sure Adam regretted every second of it because he knew you. He knew what you had to do and he let you put the brave face on to do it."  
  
He looked into the distance much like Shiro had before saying what he'd always wanted to say next.  
  
"You always try to act like the hero. You never let anyone see you at your weakest point, and you never allowed anyone to worry about you because you were always the one to protect them," The sky was setting and he took a deeper breath. "If they saw you as the strongest, and most fearless, then they would become fearless too. I'm here to tell you that you don't have to pretend you don't have weaknesses, Shiro." His eyes stayed glued onto the little hills far away from the building.  
  
"You don't have to do that anymore. To be completely honest, you didn't have to do that when we were paladins either. Seeing your weakness made us realize that you are a human, too. That we could reach your level if we really wanted to. I thought you were my hero before. But as I actually got to be part of your team– _the_ team, I realized that your real you is much more of a hero than you could ever pretend to be. I'm certain it's the same for everyone else."  
  
He smiled, "You're our hero, Shiro. You're our family. We've got your back." When he finally turned to look back at Shiro, he was taken aback by the tears rolling down the man's face. He softened and extended his arms.  
  
Shiro hugged him, tight. Sure, the angle was a little awkward, and Lance ignored how he struggled to breath for a second, but he just hugged back. After a moment or two, they let go. Shiro smiled at him and whispered a hoarse "thank you, Lance" before he returned to his original position, head turned to face the sun.  
  
"No problem. We're always here for you."  
  
Lance pushed himself off the wall to stretch himself. His legs were splayed on the roof while his hands pressed flat against the smooth concrete, supporting his torso. He, too, went to view the sunset.  
  
"We should get going, it's getting dark and when the temperature drops, you'll catch a cold." Lance snorted.  
  
"Thanks, _dad_. But yeah, we should." They both agreed, but neither of them did anything. They simply just observed the colors in the sky change from a yellowish orange, to blue, pink, and purple.  
  
After a moment, Lance spoke, hesitantly.  
  
"What was he like?"  
  
Shiro replied with a chuckle. "He was kind of hot-headed, and pretty stubborn. But that's what I loved about him. He was also really good with kids. . . understanding, even, which I found strange since he never had siblings, nieces, or nephews of his own." As Shiro spoke, Lance could practically hear the smile in his voice. "Whenever beginning cadets had their siblings visit them, he was always found entertaining the youngest." He punctuated that with a laugh before pausing.  
  
"At some point, I think I would have wanted to adopt a few kids with him." Lance hummed as way to tell him to continue. He did.  
  
"When we were starting out together, he was such a troublemaker. Like, pick a fight with a bad guy kind of guy." He chuckled nostalgically. "I didn't really know how to deal with my feelings towards him, so I was kind of. . . I don't know– rude, to him? But eventually, we became best of friends. A little later, we started dating. He was the best. He knew my weaknesses and guarded them with everything he had. It was simple, and we had a connection."  
  
Lance nodded, half in thought. "Simple with a connection. . . I want that too." Shiro looked back at Lance and smiled reassuringly.  
  
"Don't worry, Lance– you'll find an amazing girl and you'll just click. You and Allura seem to get along pretty well."  
  
_Ah, Allura._  
  
Lance made a noncommittal noise, which caused Shiro to stare longer, curiously. Lance ignored his stare.  
  
"What's wrong? You're thinking about something."  
  
Lance scoffed, "gee _thanks_."  
  
Shiro frowned immediately trying to explain, "that's not what I meant, I just saw that—"  
  
"No, no, I know what you meant, Shiro," he put up one hand. "It's just. . . I don't. . ."  
  
Shiro turned towards Lance fully, tilting his head. "You don't?" He copied Lance, which made him smile despite what he was thinking.  
  
_Come on, Lance. There's no backing out now– you've come this far, dude._  
  
"I don't. . . see myself wanting to get with Allura?" He offered a confused look to match Shiro's.  
  
"Oh, that's fine. You will find another girl." No, no that's not the point. Agh, Shiro, no.  
  
Lance shook his head quickly. "No, I just– I–I think I want to date a boy?" He explained as if it were a question.  
  
Shiro gasped a little before he lit up. "Oh, shit." He mumbled, then he grinned. "Oh, _shiiiiit!_ " If Lance's eyes could have gotten any larger, they would have. Confusion and shock from the reaction he recieved was written all over his face. Shiro, who he's never heard curse before swore not once, but twice. On top of _that_ , how he brightened startled Lance beyond belief. As if it would explain everything, he added thoughtfully: "We really _do_ travel in packs."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Shiro froze a bit before he waved his real hand. "Nevermind that, just–" Shiro laughed.  
  
After a long moment of Shiro's shocking excitement, he looked at Lance– seemingly going back to his normal self. "So? Are you gay?"  
  
Lance blinked before his face pinched in confusion and frustration, like he'd been thinking about that a lot.  
  
"I mean, yes? No? I like boys– I like _a boy_ , but I still like girls. Is that like– is there like, a name for that?" Shiro grinned.  
  
"Lance, I think you're bisexual. You like both, right?" Lance nodded then looked up.  
  
"Bisexual," he tested that word out on his tongue, "huh. . . I don't know."  
  
Shiro tilted his head. "Are you alright?"  
  
Lance was quiet for a second. "I don't know. . . how will my family react when I tell them?" _Oh my God, how will his Abuelita react?_  
  
He visibly tensed.  
  
The older man immediately softened. "In the long run, it doesn't matter how they react or if they accept you. It's how you choose to accept yourself. No matter what, just remember that you are still you."  
  
He sighed, taking in the words before turning to Shiro. All the tension left his shoulders, and he suddenly felt like it was really simple. "Thank you." Shiro waved a hand at him again.  
  
"It's what I'm here for."  
  
The two settled in a comfortable silence, then Shiro spoke up. "So, how did you find out?"  
  
Upon registering the questiong, Lance's face colored a dark red. "Uh, I just. . . he was just there doing his thing– being really dumb and like, I mean– and then I just wanted to kiss him," He stammered.  
  
Shiro's eyebrows knit together as if he was trying to decipher a code, causing Lance to realize that what he said probably hadn't made much sense.  
  
Then Shiro asked, "is it Keith?" And Lance all but buried his face in his hands.  
  
"I–I mean? Yeah? Possibly?"  
  
Shiro's excited smile returned, but he was a lot tamer than before. "You should talk to him." He suggested like it was the easiest thing in the _fucking_ world. Lance quieted, thinking back to what happened back when they were stranded.  
  
"I can't." He looked down at his feet.  
  
Shiro seemed to have sensed that something happened because he scoot closer to Lance. "What happened?"  
  
Lance bit the inside of his cheek for a second before he spoke. "When we were stranded in space, I kind of. . . freaked out on him and just–" he sighed. "We've barely spoken to each other ever since. I mean, we did more or less fix the problem, but I've been trying to overcompensate by complimenting his fighting skills. And– and now there's Axca and—"  
  
Shiro stopped him. "Wait. . . what do you mean that 'now there's Axca?' Why would that be a problem?" He sounded thoroughly confused. Lance blinked.  
  
"It looks like he likes her. And she definitely likes him," Lance replied as a matter of fact. Shiro let out a short laugh. "Trust me, he does _not_ like Axca. I guarantee you he never will." He assured with another laugh, much to Lance's growing confusion.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
Shiro shook his head. "Trust me, I know him well. Just talk to him, apologize for what happened in space, and confess to him."  
  
Lance sputtered, "it's not that simple!"  
  
Shiro laughed again, and if it didn't sound like he was actually happy for once, Lance would have stopped him. He smiled, finding that his laugh was rather contagious.  
  
Suddenly, Lance felt a chill. It was cold. The sky was dark, and he wrapped his arms around himself. Shiro noticed.  
  
"Let's go inside, shall we?" He asked before standing up. Lance nodded and stood up as well.  
  
They made their way inside, temporarily forgetting about their previous topic in favor of light conversation all the way to their rooms. When they reached Lance's door first, Shiro turned to him with a smile.  
  
"Again, thank you for saying all those things. It meant a lot."  
  
Lance grinned and nodded. "Anytime. And uh, thank you for talking me through the whole, uh, thing. . . yeah." The older man chuckled.  
  
"It's nothing, make sure to talk to Keith. . ."  
  
_Oh, that._  
  
Lance bit his lip and looked down, something that the taller of the two noticed. His smile widened like an idea had just came to him.  
  
"I'll tell you what, Lance. Tomorrow, I'll tell him you need to talk to him, and you'll take it from there alright?" The brunet's eyes snapped up in surprise.  
  
"Seriously? You'll do that?" Shiro beamed. "Of course, now get some sleep."  
  
Lance nodded like a child, opening the door to his room.  
  
"'Night, Shiro."  
  
"Goodnight. . . oh, and Lance?" Said boy stopped with one foot in his room. He looked over his shoulder with a hum in response.  
  
Shiro took it as a cue to speak. "I'm proud of you." He said. Lance stopped, replaying the words in his head. Suddenly, his eyes sort of burned. And he was kind of afraid to speak. So he just smiled wide and nodded, and the white haired man seemed to know that that meant "thank you."  
  
Shiro left, and with that Lance closed the door behind him.  
  
He was going to have to figure out how to survive tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> God FUCKING DAMMIT I POURED ALL OF MY RAGE INTO THIS FUCKING THING THANK YOU FOR READING THINS


End file.
